Heal
by cuteypuffgirl
Summary: She has lived in regret and anxiety. He has been broken by his mistakes and old ways. Together they create a perfect pair. Together they can heal. Artemis/Minerva one-shot.


**A/N: My first try at a AF fic and I am freaking nervous :D So this is a Artemis/Minerva fic, who are one of my all-time fave couples. Please don't tell me I'm the only one disappointed by the amount of A/M fics here. 48, seriously? So, this takes place after TAC and TLG may or may not have happened. So...yes I am in an angsty mood. And I've got the feels for Artemis and Minerva :D I seriously just read every fic there is about them, lol. Happy reading and don't forget to review!**

**DISCLAIMER: None of this is mine. Eoin Colfer owns Artemis Fowl, I bow down to his awesomeness yadda yadda yadda please don't sue me, I don't have a freaking lawyer.**

**WARNING: Angst and sliiiiiiight OOCness. Also, this is unbeta'd so all typos are mine.**

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Her steely grey eyes shone with tears as she shook and shivered on the bed, lying in a mess of strewn blankets and pillows, her arms around herself. Her lush blonde hair, once delicately curled, was unkempt and tangled, wispy and frayed as she sat upright.

Her name was Minerva Paradizo, age sixteen, certified teenage genius.

Once upon a time, she was a girl with a passion. She was a girl who chased her dreams with determination and a cold heart. She was intelligent and bright... an angel of knowledge, almost. However, as much as she was these traits, she lacked many others.

Cold-hearted. Self-obsessed. Naive. Stuck up. Conceited. She was a monster with a mind.

But she had changed. Minerva Paradizo had actually changed. She changed the day she lost Artemis Fowl.

No, not_ met_ Artemis Fowl... but when she lost him.

At age twelve, she was at the height of her self-obsession. She wanted recognition. She wanted fame.

But everything comes with a price.

The day she saw Artemis Fowl and his friends leave for Hybras, the moment she realized they weren't coming back and the minute she understood that this was her fault... broke her.

She went from a girl with dreams to a girl living in shadows. She never really lost her brilliance but fell victim to a demon known as insecurity.

Most girls her age would face their demons by slashing their wrists or painting pictures of anorexia and depression. Minerva chose neither, instead choosing to heal slowly, naturally, dark and alone.

She waited for him. She waited and waited and waited and waited. She never gave up.

No matter how many sleepless nights she would spend crying over her mistakes and drowning in pools of guilt, she would never give up hope that one day, maybe, Artemis Fowl would return.

She was consumed by guilt over the fact that she may have caused interspecies war... that she may have caused the death of the only person she could relate to.

It was a sleepy summer morning when she received the phone-call. She was lying in bed, re-reading her collection of Bronte works when a sharp burst of ringing filled the room. She had just wrapped her fingers around the receiver and held it to her ear when she heard his voice. The voice she had yearned to hear for so long.

"I'm back."

It was as if the sky was falling. As if the heavens had opened up and a symphony of angels had fallen to earth. She felt the ground underneath her feet rumble, her hands shake as her stomach was attacked with a million tingles of electricity.

He was back.

Artemis Fowl was back.

And he was alive.

She was consumed with a feeling of euphoria. A feeling of joy, happiness, sorrow and anger. She wanted to laugh, scream, cheer and cry. All at once.

But when she saw him, saw his face; him still young, just as he was when he left; she felt her willpower ebb.

"Your eyes."

"Yes. My eyes, indeed. You see," Artemis had begun explaining, "they were switched with one of Captain Holly Short's. Quite fascinating, really. The stream also gave me a special gift. See, ah, I _borrowed a_ bit of... magic."

Minerva watched in awe and despair as blue sparks erupted from the tip of Artemis's finger. He looked so happy, so overjoyed. Suddenly she wanted nothing more in the world but to be alone with him. To confess to him how she felt. She wanted to tell him nothing, anything and everything.

Instead, she simply slid on a smile and said, "Tré bien, Artemis. You truly have changed."

She tried to ignore the look he had sent her after that comment. She tried to ignore the shiver that ran up her body when one of his fingers reached out to touch a strand of her blond hair.

She tried to ignore the fact that she would've liked nothing more but to release words that would showcase how she felt.

A year passed and she and Artemis lost contact. It was the occasional call to speak of a new discovery or an exciting new project but none to speak for pleasure. She found her interest in him slipping and was sure that she was a thing of the past to him.

Then she got the call from Angeline Fowl, speaking of how Artemis had changed and how he seemed so... broken.

"My little Arty's changed," Angeline had sobbed into the phone, "he's going back to his old ways. He's been b-broken."

Broken.

Artemis Fowl was broken.

It seemed surreal to Minerva when Angeline invited her over to Fowl Manor. The first time was, predictably, awkward. She bunked in one of the many guest rooms and only caught site of Artemis once or twice a day. When she inquired Butler about this, he simply said:

"Ever since he recovered from Complex, he's gone a bit... different."

"How different?" Minerva had asked, "What do you mean?"

Butler had rubbed his head and sighed.

"He looks so empty nowadays. I'm worried for him but he's just so detached from everyone."

Detached from everyone.

Everyone.

Minerva had looked intently at Butler before saying:

"When was the last time he was with fairies?"

"Almost a year ago. When he contracted Atlantis Complex. He hasn't been near a fairy for ages."

"Not even Holly Short?"

Butler had sadly shook his bulky head.

"Not even her. She's worried too. But her work's keeping her in Haven all the time."

Minerva had simply nodded and walked away.

Her visits to Fowl Manor became more frequent. Soon she was going there every month for almost a week. Near Christmas, Angeline Fowl had invited her to stay for a month.

"It'll be nice to have some joy this year!" she had said with a little too much hope in her voice. "Your company would be a great inclusion into our family."

Smiling and accepting this invitation, Minerva had spared a glance at Artemis. He stood stoic and silent. She watched as, for the faintest moment, his eyes met hers and a flicker of emotion shone before quickly fading.

That was when she realised it.

She could heal him.

Minerva never had the courage to go up directly to him. Not anymore. In private, when he was sitting in his armchair, looking through countless papers, would she quietly invite him for a game of chess.

Artemis had looked at her for a long time before a small, very faint, quirk had appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"I never lose," he had replied. "Ever."

But he didn't. And he and Minerva came together every three days to play a quiet game of chess. One of them would win, the other would lose and they would part their ways without a word.

It was almost as if the cracks in their non-existent relationship were healing.

On their fourth game of chess, Minerva finally managed to snake her blood-red pawn up to his snow white king, before knocking it down with a triumphant, "Checkmate."

Artemis was flustered.

"I never lose," he had muttered over and over again. "Ever!"

"But you did. Come on, Artemis, it's just a game."

Artemis's head had snapped back, fury in his mismatched eyes.

"You don't understand," he had said in anger. "It is not JUST a game!"

Raising her hands in defeat, Minerva simply backed away and opened her mouth to speak.

"Artemis, please just calm dow-"

"NO!" Artemis had roared, "I will most certainly not calm down! Just shut up!"

With his face red with anger, he had turned on his heel and left. Minerva had felt surreality and amazement flood her veins. Then she had felt sorrow and hurt replace it instead. Artemis Fowl had raised his voice. Artemis Fowl had lost his temper. Artemis Fowl wasn't Artemis Fowl anymore.

Artemis Fowl had changed.

All because of her.

Minerva spent sleepless night after night trying to make sense of this situation. Artemis and she did not speak after that, except for a curt good morning once in a while.

Now, she lay in bed, shivering and in tears, thinking about her mistakes.

I'm acting like a petty hormonal Mary-Sue, she decently thought to herself through the haze of powerful emotions, I must get a grip, it is most inappropriate and thoroughly demeaning.

Minerva Paradizo never cried. Not once. But with recent events, she had burst into tears more times than her conscience allowed.

She took a deep shuddering breath. Carefully untangling herself from those wretched sheets; she threw on a blue silk robe over her satin nightgown, wiped her face and opened the door.

As Minerva walked towards the library, her slipper-clad feet stepped against wood. She felt the gentle clip-clop of her feet echo across the empty corridor.

Fowl Manor was huge and artistic; 19th century art with a hint of modern interior really did make this place feel like home.

As she neared the library entrance, Minerva caught sight of movement. Coming closer, she saw that the wooden oak door was ajar.

A burglar, was the first thought that had sprung to Minerva's mind, or a thief... no it can't be. I should probably—

Then she stopped.

In the library, sitting at one of the many tables was a certain black-haired boy wearing black pajamas. His hair was tousled and his skin was a pale shade of white, almost ghostlike. He was leafing through several sheaves of papers. Minerva faintly recognized a few Mozart notes and several stanzas of Homer.

The room was dark with a single window open, showcasing a scenery reminiscent of a picturesque nocturne; a faint light casting a ghostly spotlight on Artemis Fowl.

Minerva swallowed and soundlessly walked over to him. He didn't take notice of her, and if he did, he didn't show it.

She sat across the table from him, her arms crossed. He still didn't look up.

"Couldn't sleep?"

The question had escaped her mouth before she could stop it. Artemis stopped leafing through the papers, his fingers poised over the words.

Slowly he lifted his head to meet Minerva's gaze.

The first thing she thought when she saw his eyes was:

No.

What were once vibrant irises of ideas and thinking were now dark, empty pools of nothingness. His blue eye was as dreary as a stormy sky and his hazel had as much as vibrancy as a dead leaf. Nothing, not even a flicker of recognition, was seen in his eyes. He was gone, he was dead to the world.

He was broken.

"I wish I could," he replied, his voice dry as if it hadn't been used for ages. Minerva heard fatigue, tiredness and sorrow in his voice. She saw tinges of black around his eyes. Bags. So, he hadn't been sleeping much either.

"Why?" Minerva asked, "Why don't you try?"

"You know why. You've studied advanced psychology," he said, his voice cold and expressionless, "You know _exactly why_."

Minerva felt tears well up in her eyes against her will.  
She_ did know_ why. She knew why he was broken. She knew why he couldn't sleep.

His memories, his guilt, everything he had done had come back to haunt him.

He was trapped in the grasps of karma.

"Artemis, ple-"

"Minerva, don't. It's not your fault."

Her voice was laced with longing and pity, because she knew his pain, and she wanted to help heal it.

"Artemis," Minerva said, hardly a whisper, "I know it is. Look, I can help you. Please, just let me tr-"

"No, Minerva," Artemis said once again, "You... you can't heal me."

Minerva felt the tears fall. This was not happening. None of this was possible. Two of the world's most genius people were actually... breaking.

She inhaled deeply and got up from her seat, letting the chair's leg scrape the wooden floor.

She stood in front of Artemis and bent down so his face was level with hers. She saw everything in his eyes, his future, past and present. Feverishly, she placed the palms of her hands against the sides of his face. She shook with anxiety when she felt his skin heat under her touch.

Minerva leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his, until his breath was warm against hers. She spoke in a whisper as she said four words. Four words that would change everything.

"Then let me try."

Then his lips were against hers and every synapse in her mind had shorted out. For the first time in his life, Artemis Fowl did not find this affectionate display unnerving. Instead he held her face and kissed Minerva back with everything he could.

Soon, Minerva found herself curled up in Artemis's lap, one of his arms around her waist and the other entwined with her fingers, her lips whispering "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," over and over again.

It was that night that sparked many more. Soon Angeline Fowl noticed that Artemis seemed more lively than usual. When questioned, Artemis shrugged and simply said:

"It was just a phase."

Once in a while, Minerva would find herself in Artemis's arms. Once in a while, they would talk about nothing and everything. Once in a while, he would lead her to bed, where they would lie down and do nothing but breathe for hours. Once in a while, he would kiss her and she would kiss back. Once in a while, his fingers would find here and they would just hold hands under the table. Once in a while he would ask her for a game of chess which she would graciously accept.

Once in a while, Artemis Fowl wouldn't feel broken. And Minerva Paradizo would be with him... all the way through.

_Fin._

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**A/N: Well, there's that. Hoped you liked it and yes, I KNOW that Artemis and Minerva were a bit OOC and angsty but depression does weird and wacky things to your mind. I speak from experience. Anyways, please leave your thoughts in a REVIEW! Constructive criticism is appreciated and flames are encouraged XD It takes two seconds, TOPS. Each review means more Arty-Minnie love :D So question: should I write more A/M? And would you read and review if I did? So...thanks for reading, please check out my other HP, PJO, HG and MR stories and REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**

**Peace, love and Nutella! (With a sprinkle of Minartemis too :3) xx cuteypuffgirl**


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